Lebu to be hub of nationwide railway network
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia -Â The Lebu area, located in the south western end of the capital has been selected to serve as the hub of the up and coming nationwide railway network ultimately extending 5,060 kms and currently under construction.
The plan to site the network hub for railway routes originating from Addis Ababa and running to different parts of country is part of a nationwide railway architecture, which will be implemented in phases. All in all, the nationwide rail-network consists of eight railway routes connecting the capital city to the main export/import gateway, Djibouti, and other parts such as Northern and Southern Ethiopia, which have not had a link until now.
The railway architecture shows that the following will be the major routes that will crisscross the country: Addis Ababa-Modjo-Awash-Dire Dawa-Dewanle; Modjo-Shashemene-Arbaminch-Konso-Moyale Including Shashemene-Hawasa and Konso-Weyto; Addis Ababa-Ijaji-Jimma-Guraferda-Dima including Jimma-Bedele (direct to Boma with further extension to South Sudan); Addis Ababa-Ijaji-Jimma-Guraferda-Dima including Jimma-Bedele; Ijaji-Nekemet-Assosa-Kumruk; Awash-Kombolcha-Mekele-Shire; Fenoteselam-Bahirdar-Wereta-Weldia-Semera-Elidar and Wereta-Azezo-Metema. Situated at the center of the nation, Addis Ababa and the planned hub at Lebu would service routs running north to south, north to east and south to east.
The Ethiopian Railway Corporation (ERC) further divides the eight routs into 11, where five of these were scheduled to be completed in phase I, which is the period covered by the Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP.) For phase I, a total of 2,395kms was assigned although the implementation is nowhere at the expected level. For this phase, five projects were slotted, namely Addis Ababa –Djibouti Railway Project; Mekele – Weldya/Hara Gebeya – Semera-Tadjourah Port Railway Project; Addis Ababa –Ijaji-Jimma-Dima including Jimma – Bedele Railway Project; Awash- Kombolcha-Hara Gebeya Railway Project and Mojo-Shashemene-Arbaminich-Weyto Railway Project.
Source: The Reporter
